Rapidly-rotating quantum droplets confined in a harmonic potential

TL;DR

This paper investigates rapidly rotating quantum droplets in two dimensions confined by a harmonic potential, revealing the formation and stability of vortex lattices without melting, due to the droplets' self-bound nature.

Contribution

It introduces a semi-analytic Wigner-Seitz approximation for vortex lattice description in rotating quantum droplets, highlighting differences from contact interaction systems.

Findings

Vortex lattice forms as rotation approaches trap frequency.

No melting of vortex lattice occurs even at maximum rotation.

Droplet shape remains stable and self-bound under rapid rotation.

Abstract

We consider a "symmetric" quantum droplet in two spatial dimensions, which rotates in a harmonic potential, focusing mostly on the limit of "rapid" rotation. We examine this problem using a purely numerical approach, as well as a semi-analytic Wigner-Seitz approximation (first developed by Baym, Pethick et al.) for the description of the state with a vortex lattice. Within this approximation we assume that each vortex occupies a cylindrical cell, with the vortex-core size treated as a variational parameter. Working with a fixed angular momentum, as the angular momentum increases and depending on the atom number, the droplet accommodates none, few, or many vortices, before it turns to center-of-mass excitation. For the case of a "large" droplet, working with a fixed rotational frequency of the trap $\Omega$, as $\Omega$ approaches the trap frequency $\omega$, a vortex lattice forms, the number of vortices increases, the mean spacing between them decreases, while the "size" of each vortex increases as compared to the size of each cell. In contrast to the well-known problem of contact interactions, where we have melting of the vortex lattice and highly-correlated many-body states, here no melting of the vortex lattice is present, even when $\Omega = \omega$. This difference is due to the fact that the droplet is self-bound. Actually, for $\Omega = \omega$, the "smoothed" density distribution becomes a flat top, very much like the static droplet. When $\Omega$ exceeds $\omega$, the droplet maintains its shape and escapes to infinity, via center-of-mass motion.